


“Angel Heart”s Bleed Too

by SupernaturallyObsessed



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Caring Dean Winchester, Emotionally Hurt Castiel, Emotionally Repressed Dean, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Violence, Post-Episode: s10e20 Angel Heart, Pre-Slash, Very mild romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-22
Updated: 2016-10-22
Packaged: 2018-08-24 01:57:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8351824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SupernaturallyObsessed/pseuds/SupernaturallyObsessed
Summary: It’s been two weeks since the Winchesters and Castiel reunited with Claire. Two weeks since they rescued but failed to save her mother, Amelia. Two weeks since Castiel retreated to his room in the bunker and refused to leave. Sam and Dean have tried all of the normal remedies they have to make things better all to no avail, so Dean decides to try something a little unorthodox to get the angel to open up.





	

Sam knocked on Dean’s open door before stepping into his room. 

“Hey Sammy,” Dean said, looking up from the book he had been reading. After their recent encounter with Tamiel he had realized that there was still a lot of angel lore that they didn’t know so he was trying to fill in some of the gaps. “What’s up?”

“It’s Cas, man,” Sam answered. 

“Is he still moping?”

“Yeah. What happened with Amelia seems to have hit him pretty hard.” Dean rubbed a hand down his face, a nervous/stressed habit that he didn’t even notice anymore. 

“Can you really blame him?”

“Dean!” Sam said disapprovingly. Dean threw up his hands as a sign of peace.

“Look, I’m not saying it’s all his fault, but when he took over Jimmy’s body he affected other people. Sometimes actions have serious consequences.” His words were strong but his voice was not. He didn’t like seeing Castiel upset, but he didn’t know what to do to make things better. Telling him that he wasn’t at all to blame for what happened would be a lie. 

“It’s been two weeks, Dean. How long are we going to let this go on?”

“What do you want me to do about it? He’s not a kid. I can’t just hug him and give him a cookie and make everything all better,” he said, sarcasm heavy in his tone. He realized that he could give Cas physical interaction but he wasn’t sure if that was appropriate. Besides, Sam was there. There was no way he would even make that suggestion if his brother was around let alone act on it.

“I don’t know, but he always seems to be more talkative when you’re around. You guys have a ‘more profound bond’ or whatever.” Dean cringed, embarrassed that Sam still remembered that statement from so many years ago. He had felt awkward when Cas had said it before and he definitely still felt awkward about it now. 

“There isn’t anything else to say. You and I have been trying for days.”

“Why don’t you just spend some time with him?”

“What?” Dean asked, trying to act as normal as possible. There was no way Sam knew about Dean’s feelings towards the angel. He had always been careful about that.

“Just sit with him or something,” Sam suggested and Dean released the tension that had been building within him. “I was going to go out anyway because we’re low on food and I’m pretty sure at least half of your shirts are falling apart.”

“My shirts are fine!”

“Dude, the last time I did laundry I swear I could see through a few of them.” 

“Fine. Buy some new shirts if it will get you to shut up,” Dean said, pretending to be pissed but secretly kind of happy to have some alone time with Cas.

“Promise you’ll talk to Cas and not just sit in your room looking at porn all afternoon.”

“I promise, I promise. Of all of the strange things we’ve done the past couple of months, comforting a depressed Angel of the Lord seems like just a normal day.” Sam rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless.

“See you in a few hours.” He turned and walked out, shouting a quick goodbye to Castiel when he passed the angel’s room. 

Dean waited a few minutes before getting up and walking to Cas’ room. He wanted to be sure Sam was gone and also didn’t want Cas to think this was a set-up, even if it kind of was. 

“Hey,” he said quietly, standing in the doorway. Cas had never done anything to decorate his room, not understanding the point, so the walls were bare. 

“Come to try once again to convince me that I had nothing to do with Amelia’s death and Claire’s rebellion?” the angel asked, skipping his typical ‘hello, Dean’ greeting. He was sitting cross legged, shoes off, at the head of the bed, head tilted back to stare at the blank ceiling. Dean wondered if he was praying or thinking of heaven. He had told them that Jimmy and Amelia were there, finally reunited after many years apart. 

“No,” Dean said simply, causing Cas to snap his head down in surprise. 

“Excuse me?” Dean sighed as he pulled his boots off before sitting down at the foot of the bed to face Castiel. 

“Actions have consequences, in case you haven’t figured that out by now,” he said simply. Castiel noticeably stiffened.  

“So what,” he said, voice tense. “You’ve changed your mind? Decided it actually is my fault? Come to throw me out of the bunker again?” 

“I’m not here to kick you out. I just want you to stop mopping around. So you screwed up. Get over yourself and get your ass back in the game. You’re acting like a five year old throwing a temper tantrum.”

“I'm acting like a five year old?” He was getting angrier by the second. “You're one to talk, Dean. You constantly make stupid decisions without thinking about the effect you have on the people around you.” He stood up, walking over until he was right next to Dean, staring down at him from above. “I am sick and tired of your high and mighty routine. If you think this is a stupid thing to be upset about then fine, but don't go telling me how to react.” Dean suppressed a smile as he stood up. His plan was working perfectly. He had to keep going though. He needed to get Cas just a little bit angrier.

“I'm ‘high and mighty’? Really?” he asked, getting in Cas' face. “Pretty sure Mr. Angel of the Lord takes the cake for that one.” His tone was harsher now.

“You better watch what you say, Dean. I may still not have a working set of wings but I have my grace back and that's all I need to beat you down.” Dean laughed making Castiel glower. 

“Yeah, right. You aren't going to hit me and we both know it.” He had barely finished the sentence when he felt a fist hitting his gut and shoving him back a good three feet. The blow hurt, and he was sure to have a bruise in the morning, but Dean stayed standing. No way he was going down that easily.

“I may have dealt with your rudeness and insolence before, Dean, but not today,” Castiel said as he walked closer, hitting Dean in the jaw with a right hook. Dean wiped the blood from his mouth and hit Cas in the chest. He was holding back and Cas could tell. “Did you come here to fight or to get a broken nose?”

“Like I said before, I came to tell you to grow up and stop acting like a little kid.” He threw another punch, harder this time, but Castiel caught his fist. The angel’s grin was almost evil as he twisted the hunter's arm and flipped him onto the bed. Dean only paused for a second before getting back up.

“I would suggest you get back down and stay away from me until Sam gets back. I'm only going to give you one chance.”

“No thanks,” Dean said. Before he had a chance to do something Cas punched him in the stomach again, making him grunt. Cas was hitting harder than Dean had anticipated but the hunter knew that he couldn’t back down. Not after getting this close. “You do realize that every injury you cause me just validates the theory that you're violent, right?” His voice was starting to get strained but he didn't care. “First Jimmy, then Claire, then Amelia, and now me.”

“Jimmy knew what he was agreeing to and I did everything I could to protect him,” Cas nearly shouted, seething with anger. As he spoke he pummeled Dean's chest. “I should have tried harder with Amelia but by the time we found her there was nothing more I could do.” It seemed like he was punching Dean on every other word at this point. Dean was starting to get battered and bloody but he didn’t move to protect himself. He was starting to wonder how much longer he would be able to stand though. His legs were starting to feel weak and he was pretty sure he had a couple of bruised ribs. “At least now she's back with Jimmy. And Claire…Claire will be okay.” His fists slowed suddenly and he turned his head to look at the ground. “She'll...she'll be okay, right?” he asked, quieter this time. He seemed to have screamed himself out. He hadn’t lasted as long as Dean had expected, but the hunter wasn’t going to complain. Getting beaten up by an angel wasn’t his idea of a fun time.

“Yes, she will be,” Dean said, putting his hands on Cas' shoulders. “She's a strong girl and Jody will take good care of her.” Castiel started to shake and Dean pulled him close, ignoring how much pain he was in. “It's okay, Cas,” he said softly in the angel's ear. 

“No, it’s not,” the angel mumbled. He was just standing there, not reciprocating the hug, his head resting on Dean’s shoulder. 

“Everyone makes mistakes. Even all powerful angels. You didn’t understand humanity as well when you first came down.”

“That’s no excuse.” Dean felt like his legs were about to give out so he moved them until they were sitting next to each other on the side of the bed. Cas was staring at the ground in what almost looked like shame, although Dean wasn’t sure if his friend could experience that feeling. “I thought humans were inferior. They were beautiful creatures and my Father loved them, but taking over one human’s body in order to act out the will of God was not a crime. I was doing what I was told and everyone should have understood that. I gave Jimmy a gift. He and his family should have been honored that he was holy enough to be the vessel for an angel. At least…at least that’s what I thought before. So many things are different now. I realize how wrong I was but it’s too late to fix anything.”

“Cas, you can’t blame yourself for everything that’s happened,” Dean said. He felt a little strange. He had given Sam plenty of pep talks over the years but he wasn’t in the habit of consoling angels. “You managed to do a lot of good at the end. You freed Amelia enough so that she could see Claire again. Jimmy agreed to be your vessel not once but twice. He might have been angry and confused the first time but the second time he knew exactly what he was signing up for. I don’t think he is angry at you anymore. Then there’s Claire. She may not admit it but you did a lot for her too.” Castiel was silent for a little while. Dean sat and waited.

“How do you do it?” 

“What?”

“Keep moving on, even after making so many mistakes. You’ve made wrong decisions. You’ve lost people. You’ve let people down. Why haven’t you given up?” Dean almost laughed. That was a question he had been asking himself for a very long time. 

“I used to say that I felt I saved more people than I hurt so it was okay,” Dean said quietly. He rubbed at his arm subconsciously, feeling the mark of Cain under his shirt. 

“I sense a ‘but’ coming.” Dean gave a half-hearted smile. 

“But I haven’t been so sure about that recently.”

“So then why are you still fighting?”

“Every time I try to stop someone brings me back in the game.” Castiel finally lifted his head to look at Dean, a slightly confused look clear on his face. “I’ve died, multiple times in fact, spent a year as a normal guy with a family and friends, been to Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, became a demon, and almost became Michael’s vessel. Every single time I thought I was done for or wanted to give up, someone worked their ass off to make sure I kept going.” He looked Cas right in the eye. “I’m not going to let you give up either, Cas.”

“Why not?”

“You rescued me from hell, man. I can rescue you from this,” Dean said. “Besides, I’ve stuck by you when you made much bigger mistakes.” He didn’t go into detail, figuring Cas knew what things he was referring to. Castiel hugged Dean, tears beginning to well in his eyes. With his grace back he was a full angel again, but it seemed that some of the traits he had picked up as a human were going to stick around. Dean winced when Cas tightened his grip. “Ribs, Cas,” he choked out. “Watch the ribs.” Cas pulled back, startled, as if he was just now realizing Dean’s injuries. His face was a little bloody and already starting to bruise, and he was pretty sure that if he looked under his shirt there would be bruises on his chest and stomach as well. 

“Dean, I…” the words caught in the angel’s throat. Dean reached out quickly and grabbed his hands. 

“It’s okay,” he said, his voice calm and even. “This is not your fault. I could tell you needed to get things out. It didn’t seem like you were going to do that on your own so I provoked you a little.”

“That was incredibly stupid. I could have…I could have killed you.”

“You could have but I knew you wouldn’t. I don’t mind being a punching bag for you or Sam occasionally if it helps you guys feel better.” Castiel broke one of his hands free and touched two fingers to Dean’s forehead, healing him in seconds. 

“I’m sorry, Dean.” 

“How many times do I need to say ‘it’s okay’ before you believe it?”

“Right, because you always believe everything the first time you hear it.” While Cas was trying to joke around it was clear that it was forced. 

“Look, Cas, I’m not going to say that you had nothing to do with what happened because that would be a lie.”

“You’re not helping.” Dean resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Sassy Castiel was still hard to get used to even after all this time.

“You might have been the catalyst to what happened, but once you realized that you did what you could to fix things. If you hadn’t stepped in things would have turned out a lot worse. Amelia would have had her soul sucked out and Claire would never have been able to see her mom again.” 

“But Claire hates me.”

“Not anymore. She just needs some space to figure things out. A lot has happened to her in a short amount of time and at a pretty critical point in her life. She may still be a little wary of you but can you really blame her? You look like her dead father. That’s gotta be confusing for anyone, and she’s just a teenager.”

“I guess not,” Cas admitted. “I wish she would have stayed with us though. That way I wouldn’t have to worry about her.”

“Jody will watch out for her. You can call and check in whenever you want. Besides, I don’t think the three of us are in any shape to provide a stable home life for a seventeen year old,” he said with a small laugh. They had enough problems to worry about without adding Claire’s well being into the equation. 

Castiel sat quietly for a while after that. He was back to staring at the floor again. It seemed like he was trying to agree with what Dean was saying but couldn’t quite get there. Dean didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to say something or do something or just walk away and leave Cas alone for a little while. He was still pretty new to the whole ‘expressing your feelings’ thing. When he saw how much pain was in Cas’ eyes, however, he acted without even thinking, turning the angel’s head and pulling him in for a tender kiss. Castiel was still at first, perhaps in shock, but soon he was kissing Dean back passionately. 

“Sam’s going to be out for a little while,” Dean said when they pulled apart to breathe. “How about we go relax together in the other room and watch a movie?” Castiel nodded and grabbed the hand of his human. He was still upset and unsure about the future but something told him that everything would, eventually, work out just fine.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the story! I’m always open to feedback/constructive criticism. And I know my stories always have happy endings. I’m a sap. XD


End file.
